I work with parents and their pre-school children in a family learning setting. During the courses, most parents ask questions about preparing their child for school, and this is the first book I have come across which sets out all of the information they need in a clear and accessible way. I really appreciated the fact that Settling Your Child in School shows ways to prepare your child, not just educationally, but also socially, emotionally and physically. The checklists at the end of every chapter were particularly helpful to consolidate the information given. I would certainly recommend this book, not just for professionals working with families, but for parents themselves. I wish it were published when my children were preparing for school!

Settling Your Child in School is a comprehensive guide to answering the above question. It also contains lots of helpful, practical, fun things to do together, which aids both parent and child in the early school years. It contains excellent tips, easy to follow checklists and great ideas to help build your child's emotional, social, physical and mental abilities. It helps you and your child cross the gap between pre-school and school containing helpful information on:

• What your child needs to know about starting school


• How to settle your child in the school environment


• The mental and physical abilities your child will need at school.


• How schools approach classroom learning


• Helping your child with reading, writing and number skills at home.


• Games and activities to stimulate your child's interest in learning and social skills.


• Learn what schools expect of children so your child can enjoy their first school experience.

This is a comprehensive guide to helping your child cross the gap between pre-school and school. It is a comprehensible guide to modern primary education with a wealth of sensible suggestions. The usual core subjects and how to help are covered. There are reader friendly sections on gross and fine motor skills, and hand-eye coordination as well as learning styles. As one parent said, "a godsend, detailing fun things to do to aid the transition from pre-school". It has excellent tips, easy to follow check lists and great ideas for setting and achieving goals with your children. It could be a standard requirement for primary school parents.

The book is delightful. It is clearly set out in a step-by-step way and can benefit not only parents and children new to school but also their teachers.

I really enjoyed reading the book Settling your child in school. It is a very helpful book for all parents. It covers the basics a child needs for their first week in school in a very readable manner.

Some of the later chapters are I think rather too -˜heavy' to expect our average child to be able to do before starting school. This is nothing to do with the style of layout and the easy of reading. However if you look at the book as a guide to your child's whole first year in school, then it is a good investment. It will be useful for parents to dip into the later passages as their child progresses through the reception class.



One of our previous parents had a quick look at my copy and her immediate reaction was -˜I wish I had been able to read this when the first of my three children started school'.

This book provides an insight for all parents of primary school age children. Explaining what schools expect of children " and what parents can expect from schools " it covers everything from toilet training to the best ways to help children use a computer. Wallis has also included checklists at the end of every chapter, along with games and activities designed to stimulate learning.

Today as accelerated learning becomes more acceptable and more widely practised, the number of books appearing on the shelves stating the principles of what it takes to learn is increasing. All are valid in that each author has a different way of explaining the principles. I do not have children, so being asked to review this book, at first glance seemed to be quite a challenge. However, on paging through the book, I found myself as the adult pondering on some of the criteria presented in the book to be quite a journey. It covers things like “make sure your child knows the basics” to developing listening skills which will let the child become a competent self sustaining adult in the years ahead. I found the section on different learning styles just as fascinating as I always do, and wondered how much better the world would be if parents were able to begin to recognise their child's learning styles as they entered the educational system and were more actively able to support the child in academic learning. However, perhaps what I found to a gem in this book is the author's understanding of life skills ” active listening, learning to focus on the glass half full instead of the glass half empty, being able to relate to other people ” and how essential these are for a person to feel fulfilled no matter what the academic achievements are. It presents an interesting thought doesn't it? What if we were to change the educational system and focus on developing essential life skills like reading, writing, verbal communication (listening, comprehension, asking suitable questions, social graces/manners), social manners (greetings, handshakes, opening of doors, pulling back of chairs, telephone manner), anger management, stress management, financial intelligence, goal setting, conversing in two to three languages etc for the first seven years of any child's schooling and then begin to focus on academic studies ” how different this world would be! So for parents who truly care about being an active participant in your child's welfare both in life skills and helping your child to develop the true meaning of education ” this is a cute book with some very valuable advice!

Anxious parents as well as professionals will find this imaginative storybook a helpful and reassuring way to tackle their children's problems and open up communication.

An excellent little book full of good advice that fills the gap between toddler and educational books. For working parents it is a godsend, detailing practical fun things to do to aid the transition from nursery to infants school and describing the modern educational environment. For full-time parents it is an essential reference book that can be dipped into or read cover-to-cover. It is also a good introductory text for nursery and infants school teachers.

This is a comprehensive guide to help your child cross the gap between preschool and school. Learn what schools expect of children, what your child needs to know about starting school, and the mental and physical abilities your child will need at school. Also includes some practical things to do to prepare your child for the move, such as help with reading, writing and number skills, and games and activities to stimulate your child's interest in learning.

If you or your child is anxious about starting school read this book ” it will help put your mind at rest and give your child the confidence to know she is ready for this big step. Lots and lots of helpful practical information to help both parent and child prepare for what should be an exciting experience and, equally importantly, to help set a sure foundation for life long learning. I am sure it will become indispensable.

If you are a parent and want to be involved with your child's early years in school this is the book for you! Provides excellent tips, easy to follow checklists and great ideas for setting and achieving goals with your child. Learning at home can be linked to the classroom to ensure your child gets the most out of this important time.